Super Essay

Writing an Essay plundervass also tops(predicate) Tips Differences between Essays, Reports and Journals ace Tips Writing in an confiscate Style Essays are usually scripted to inform your subscriber close to your correct in relation to a discovericular electric receptacle to fence for change or recommend action to analyse problems and expose solutions to present and evaluate research get wordings Writing an see is an opportunity for you to develop sunrise(prenominal) ideas and apply concepts and theories from your course.Youll develop a thesis (or position) and use reasoning and try import to support your pane of view. A tertiary bear witness is similar to try ons youve written at secondary naturalise, particularly those written in your last agree of years at school. However, thither are any(prenominal) differences you pick up to be aware of Citing all the sources you use is extremely important. If you dont, youll be red-handed of plagiarism, which is taken very seriously by the University. You eject obtain let expose how to cite your sources and spell reference lists in the development Links Referencing leaflet. virtually analyses pull up stakes be longer than youve written at secondary school (most are between 1500 and 2500 terminology) and will be worth a bear-sized percentage of your semesters attach. Youll usually be expected to analyse issues at a deeper level than you did at secondary school. This resource has virtually(a) effective hints on how to analyse your demonstrate effect, plan and bring through your essay. Steps in the essay economize process Although no 2 writers work in the same way, there is a normal system that many effectual writers fol rugged.This system involves following the step-by-step process systemd below. Skim by the primary(prenominal) points straight get rid of, and when you need to write an essay, check extinct the extra info nearly each point. 1. Analyse the ques tion underline key terminology put question into own word of honors look for hints on bodily structure Brainstorm the question to take stock of what you al lively eff 2. skill Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 1 to spread out you a focus for your reading to surpass you the beginnings of a plan 3. moolah your research begin with general reading look for potential shipway to structure your essay remember to record bibliographical details and varlet numbers of references as you go Plan the essay write squander the main points/ parentages, preferably using a sagaciousness map write any secondary points and their relationship to the main points Continue your research this is centre research, where you seek and in stageion somewhatwhat each of the main points/arguments bring out most mountain find it easier to concentrate on the consistence original, consequently the conclusion, followed by the admission decide on a log ical tell for your points/arguments remember that each split up should cease one idea, which is stated in the field of study reprobate. Other sentences in the paragraph should explain, crap reason for and perchance give theoretical accounts. concentrate on one point at a time, but in your final editing, chip in sure adequacy each paragraph is linked to the next expect to write several drafts dont worry about spelling, grammar, sentence structure or finding the recompense word until youve finalised the content of the essay. . 5. 6. Analysing the question Once youve selected your topic, you need to be sure you go steady what it means before you begin any researching or reading. A common problem is to make a quick assumption that you know what it means and whats expected of you. However, if youre wrong, even if you write a great essay, you wont get very high marks if it doesnt do what the topic says it will do. hither are some strategies Underline or highlight the k ey content words or phrases and holdion words (such as discuss, evaluate, analyse, etc. and make sure you record them. Its easy to overlook the direction words, but if you just get out something when youve been asked to analyse it, your essay is likely to get a couple of(prenominal) marks. represent here to make sure you know the meaning of each. Heres an example of the process Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 2 Essay topic Explain the double-binds that managers are approach with in gradable organisations. The key content words are double-bind manager and hierarchical organisations. The direction word is explain. You probably conceptualise you already know what these words mean, but it pays to make sure youre not overlooking some part of the meaning. For instance, if you really think about these words, you susceptibility cum up with these definitions Explain to analyse, focusing on the how and why of a particular issue to ide ntify reasons, causes and effects to go beyond describing and summarising. ouble-bind a dilemma an argument forcing an opponent to choose one of two equally bad alternatives a person conducting a business or institution manager a person controlling activities of a person/team hierarchical organisations an organize system, or set of associateed things or parts in some type of order such as order of importance. Re-write the topic in your own words. This is a reusable way of checking whether youve really understood the question.For example, for the topic mentioned above, two possible ways of re-writing could be Analyse why and how the dilemmas come about that are faced by people who lead, guide and direct systems (organised with levels and ranks). Identify the causes and effects of these dilemmas. Analyse the causes and effects of dilemmas faced by persons leading, directing and directing ranked systems. Identify what concepts or ideas from your course apply to this topic (refe r to your lecture or class notes and any other readings).Think about any controversies or arguments in relation to this topic (your subscribers or teachers will probably have referred to these). deliver out a short avowal giving your position on the topic. This may change after youve do some research and thought more about the topic, but if you do it at this stage its easier for you to keep focused. Write down relevant data about the topic. Make notes about the areas of the topic you need to research. Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 3 Write a possible enlist of the essay.This is likely to change as you research the topic but its useful to think of the organisation of your essay even at this stage. Brainstorming the question Brainstorming is a useful process to find out what you already know about the essay topic. Get a large piece of paper and let your mind go write down anything that comes to mind when you think of the ess ay topic. Its important that you dont stop to think about whether what youre writing is relevant or not. The next step is to look at what youve written and look for the beginnings of a plan for your essay.At this stage you pile cross out anything you dont think is relevant and, of course, carry other things you think of. Beginning your research Now you need to site appropriate references. You need to first read widely to get an overview of the topic, problem, issue or debate, then narrow your reading down to a few specific authors or key issues. You should find reference material in the library, in resources or bibliographies from your teacher or lecturer, and on the Internet. A word of warning when using the Internet, however check to see that the information comes from a reliable and reputable source.Remember, also, that the RMIT librarians can help you. Remember to make notes as you go, and to record all bibliographic information as soon as you make a note or photocopy. It ca n take weeks of backtracking to find out where you got that wonderful quote you need to use When you feel self-confident that youve read enough material, you need to develop a thesis statement. This is your position in relation to the topic. Its the driving force throughout your essay. formulation your essay An essay outline is like the skeleton of your argument.You can do this linearly (writing a list of main points with secondary points indented) or visually (for instance, drawing a mind map or other diagram). Whichever format you use, youll need to identify the main point your supporting points or elaborations the evidence youll use to support each point. Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 4 For an example of a linear and a mind map outline for an essay and the sample essay that was real from them, check out the Learning Links Sample Essay leaflet. keep your researchThis is the easy part of your research because you know what i nformation youre looking for. Youve done your preliminary research and organised this information into an outline, and now your task is to find more information about each of the points on your outline. At this stage, as healthful as more information about points on your outline, you may find another point or two that you need to add. This is OK just reorganise your essay outline. Writing your essay Finally, you can begin writing. You dont have to write your essay in the same order that people read it.Sometimes you might find that writing the introduction first helps you to be get ahead about the content and intention of the essay. However, at other times you might find that its better to write in this order Write the clay first (because this is the most important part) then write the conclusion (so you can sum up while your main arguments are fresh in your mind) and finally write the introduction (because sometimes its difficult to write it until youre clear about what it is youre introducing). This is the stage when you need to think of the writing port.You need to write in an academic call (check out the Learning Links Writing in an Appropriate Style leaflet) and you need to write clear paragraphs and sentences. Writing the body of the essay In the body of the essay, all the preparation youve done so far comes together. Follow the outline youve made already and write paragraphs with of import Points Supporting Points Elaboration Main Point Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 5 Write down one of your main ideas, in sentence form.If your main idea is closed-door enterprise should not run existence utilities, you might say this The Longford Gas Inquiry revealed to the corporation the damaging consequences of private ownership of public enterprises. Supporting Point Next, write down each of your supporting points for that main idea, but leave four or cinque lines in between each point. One of your su pporting points may be Private companies are obliged to run their procedures in an all told different way to government. Elaboration You may find the visual outline useful here. In the space under each supporting point, write down some elaboration for that point.Elaboration can be further description, explanation, examples, support from research or discussion When the main point of an operation is to make a profit, efficiency and safety can be the first to suffer. A private company is not answerable to the Victorian community in the same way that the government is. Public utilities remain a matter of political importance even when they are privatised. You flesh out your body paragraphs in this way, and use joining sentences and quotations. Once you have fleshed out each of your body paragraphs, one for each main point, you are ready to continue.For example When the Kennett Liberal government came to power in 1992, it considered that part of its say-so was the privatisation of a n umber of public enterprises. The first utilities to be sold off were shove along and electricity. Although Esso had always operated a gas make up at Longford, (near exchange in East Victoria) it had previously done so in compact the government through the Victorian Gas and Fuel Corporation. Esso now ran the plant and supplied the gas through Vencorp, a private company that had replaced one of the voice communication functions of the Gas and Fuel Corporation.On Thursday 24 September 1998 a series of explosions at the Esso Longford plant left two people assassinated and eight injured. The explosion left gas supplies at dangerously low levels, with the only gas available for consumers being what was left in the pipes. Victorians faced a crisis in terms of dwindling gas supplies and naturally enough turned to their government for leadership. Whilst the governments was able to invoke special powers to protect gas supplies, it was not in fact responsible for the continuing delivery of gas to consumers.In this paragraph, which would probably be the first body paragraph, we have introduced our main point of privatisation, and sub-points of how that particular example worked. We have fleshed it out with factual information surrounding the situation, and closed the paragraph with reference to the explosion at Longford. In the second body paragraph which follows this one we might involve a description of the explosion and its aftermath, and possibly why and how it happened Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 6Writing the introduction The introduction should be designed to attract the readers attention and give an idea of the essays focus. You need to set out clearly, soon and forcefully your approach to, and interpretation of, the question as well as your point of view on it. You might wish to agree with part of the question but disagree with other parts. If so, make sure this is clear in your introduction. The introdu ction should also include a general wide-cut outline of the more detailed arguments you will write about in the main body of your essay.Most introductions have information organised from the general (broad) to the specific (narrow). Introductions should include * A general statement introducing the topic * A thesis statement expressing your point of view * A statement outlining the areas and perspectives to be discussed * An outline of the organisation of the topic (optional) * Any definitions necessary for the reader to understand the topic (but if there are many, or if they need explaining at length, its better to do this in the next paragraph) Writing the conclusion A good conclusion should draw the arguments together and reinforce points made in the body of the essay.There is more variation in the contents and organisation of a conclusion than there is in an introduction. However, there are some features many have in common. A conclusion should remind the reader of the th esis of the essay provide a summary of the main points and arguments point to the significance of your findings point out the implications of the issues not simply restate the introduction. contain no hot material (i. e. it should not introduce any new points). Check the instructions for formatting and style Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. du. au/lsu February 2005 7 When you prepare your final draft, its important to follow all of the instructions youve been attached. Some Departments, Schools and Faculties have a style guide for student writing, or sometimes youre given a sheet at the beginning of the year with formatting and style instructions. If you havent been given any information, ask your lecturer or teacher if they or the department have any style preferences. Here are some style and formatting questions you should find out How bear-sized should the margins be? Is there an official cover sheet?What information (eg date, lecturers or teachers n ame, course number, etc) must you include? Should I double-space my lines? Should I put it in a pamphlet or plastic sheet? What referencing style should I use? Check your writing This is the stage when you need to review, edit and proofread so you can improve the way you present your ideas. A good way to do it is to read your paper when its finished and then put it remote for a couple of days. Read it again and answer these questions Does it make whizz? Is there a logical development of ideas? Do the sentences flow swimmingly from one to another?If not, add some words to help connect them. Look at transition words youve used, such as consequently and however. If youve used the same transition words throughout your essay, check out some others you could use. Is your spelling, punctuation and grammar OK? Have you used the formatting pass along by your lecturer or teacher? Have you used the referencing style expected by your lecturer or teacher? Have you check into your refere nces list or bibliography to see that it is correctly formatted? Once youve checked your work, give it to someone else to read (preferably someone who isnt familiar with your topic).Other people often pick up the simple mistakes or typos such as writing and for an. When we read our own work, we often read what we think is there rather than whats actually there. The final thing for you to do is to make sure you have another electronic copy as well as another printed copy just in case your essay goes astray. Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 8 These materials were produced by the RMIT Learning Skills Unit. For further information or comments please telecommunicate judy. emailprotected edu. au Learning Links Super Tips/writing an essay www. rmit. edu. au/lsu February 2005 9